Alright! I'm really sorry I didn't update in so long, but I was one busy ass mother-trucker, and moving schools really doesn't help either!

But anyway, I'm really pleased with the amount of reviews I got for this story, as well as my other newer story!

You guys rock!

~::~

Sakura sighed. She knew that finding a trainer would be no easy business, but this was getting ridiculous. Kaimei-sensei was training Shiso, which was understandable since they were both Lightning Style users, and even Umi had found some random, crazy Iwa kunoichi to train her.

The only person left was Sakura.

Crap.

At the moment, she was just walking through the forest around the village, trying not to think about much and just relax.

Unfortunately, it wasn't working.

It's truly rather hard to relax when you know that you're going to have to go against a prodigy. Sakura was no weakling, but she couldn't help feeling slightly anxious. Anyone would.

Just as she was walking past a clearing, she heard a soft voice over the chirping of the crickets and the joyful singing of the birds.

"Eight Trigrams: Vacuum Palm!"

There was an enormous swish of chakra disturbance, and for a moment, Sakura froze with the thought that she might have just accidently stumbled upon the exact person who was the cause of her temporary insomnia.

But as she heard the soft wails of 'It's not working, it's not working! Why am I so useless?' she knew that it couldn't have been Neji Hyuuga. Most definitely not.

Once again, she couldn't help the instinct which overtook her senses. So, without really thinking about it, she strode into the clearing, head held high in the true Akatsuki style.

However, her resolve not to get involved was shattered the moment she saw the delicate, trembling girl lying face-down on the grass, her body shaking with what Sakura guessed were silent sobs.

Again, without really thinking about it, she walked over to the crying Hyuuga heiress and knelt down next to her.

Gently nudging her shoulder, she spoke. "Hey, cut yourself some slack. You're not useless if you were able to create such a powerful chakra disturbance with a single jutsu."

Hinata seemed to freeze momentarily, before raising her head high enough to look the rosette in the eye.

Then, a small, sardonic smile overtook her delicate features. "You're only saying that. You don't mean it. I. Am. Useless. There's no denying it."

Sakura almost jumped at the hard tone which came from the supposedly shy girl.

But then, her eyes widened. The girl reminded her so much of her old self. Of how she used to give up before even properly trying.

Until she met Itachi.

::Flashback::

A six-year-old Sakura lay down in a broken heap on the ground, her body shaking with every sob which racked through her tiny body.

"Get up you stupid child!" Pein roared at her.

"Nagato! She's still your daughter! Don't treat her like an outsider!" Konan yelled, tears streaming down her cheeks as well.

"I treat her like an outsider because she is an outsider! I will not acknowledge her if she fails to perform the simplest jutsu! Until then, she's not my daughter!"

With one final glare at his daughter, he stormed back into the hideout, Konan following after him quickly. A few seconds later, a loud slap was heard, but Sakura didn't know who was on the receiving end. She didn't care.

The pain at her Father's words was too great to bear. She felt hurt. Betrayed. Disowned. Unwanted.

Suddenly, quiet footsteps could be heard. Sakura looked up and saw the beautiful scarlet eyes of one Uchiha Itachi.

"Get up, Sakura-san. I need to tell you something." No space for argument. Just like him.

When she finally stood up, her legs shaking worse than any jelly she'd ever seen, Itachi raised his hand.

Involuntarily, Sakura flinched, as if afraid that he was going to hit her. But Itachi didn't retreat his hand. He kept going until his fingers wrapped around the rosette's small wrist.

"I couldn't help to watch you when you were training. And I noticed that your position was incorrect. Believe me when I say this, the technique you're trying at is not one meant for six-year-olds. But your father doesn't seem to notice that, if you don't mind me saying."

Sakura's eyes widened. He wasn't going to hurt her…

"When performing the Fireball Technique, you need to use the hand-seals to gather chakra in your lungs, instead of your hands like you normally would. It's your lungs which breathe out the fire, not the other way round."

Sakura tried this, and in a few minutes, a massive Fireball engulfed the training grounds.

"I-I… Itachi-san… Thank you!"

All she got in return was a true smile.

But that was enough.

::End of Flashback::

Sakura broke away from her memories. She couldn't bear to have someone suffer like she did. She wouldn't let that happen.

"The more you cry over your weakness the more aware of them you become. Soon, you won't be able to do anything simply because of being scared of failure. But know this, if you try and fail, you can always try again. However, if you don't try at all, then what's the point?"

She watched as Hinata's eyes widened and then glazed over slightly with unshed tears. She had to act quickly.

"You might be wondering why I'm telling you this. You see, I used to be like this too. I also used to give up without even trying. But I met someone who helped me overcome that weakness. It took months, filled with sweat, blood and exhaustion, but I had achieved my goal. I wasn't weak." She took a deep breath. "I guess what I'm saying is… Train with me?"

Hinata stared at her like she was crazy. "You're strong. Frighteningly so. Why would you want to train with a failure like me?" she whispered.

Suddenly, a true smile stretched across Sakura's face, her eyes twinkling. "Because…We're the same."

~::~

It was a few days after Sakura stumbled upon Hinata, and things were looking better than ever. The two girls had exhausted themselves together when training, laughed together at the small dango restaurant, talked together after their sparring sessions.

They were slowly becoming inseparable.

Though Sakura thought it would be quite hard for the Hyuuga heiress when she had insisted not to talk about her family, Hinata didn't mind it at all, as long as they didn't talk about her family.

No one noticed the sudden change in the shy girl's attitude, but it wasn't because there wasn't any.

It was because Hinata didn't want them to notice.

Even her own teammates didn't notice when Hinata started disappearing from their training session without a word of explanation and not come back till it was well into the evening.

Nobody noticed apart from Sakura. And Kurenai.

The woman thought of Hinata like her own daughter, therefore they agreed that Kurenai will be an exception. They explained the situation to her after the woman began to get more and more suspicious.

A smile of gratitude and relief was their answer.

That's when Sakura realised something necessary.

~::~

"Kureni-sensei?" Sakura asked quietely.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" The woman replied, obviously shocked.

"I need your help."

"With what? I thought you were training with Hinata."

"I am. I just need to learn one more thing if I plan to take on Neji."

"And what would that be?"

A smirk crossed Sakura's features. "The ability to mess with someone's senses."

~::~

I'm done! The next chapter will introduce Sakura's last trainer!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in your REVIEW!